General Chat

I'll just wait for the bit of gouged skin to dry and drop off Lesley. I had a similar injury a few years ago (although it wasnt scissors on that occasion) and everything healed beneath the plaster. In other words ..... I dont want to go anywhere near a nurse with a needle and thread :-D

Do please excuse me sounding stilted and stiff. Its the icy cold wot does that to me. And there is worse to come .... HELP !! who knickered me fur lined unmentionables.

I hope dear Petunia hasnt taken the lurgy from her contagious friend .... :-S

CC

Im out doing good works :-D :-D :-D

Will pop in and catch up tomorrow and for tea and hot toast and marmite

Teresa

Marmite .... :-D,

We have no Marmite on our supermarket shelves. After the factory was damaged in Christchurch, production has stopped... Nearly a national disaster in itself.. I had a half full jar that fruit borrowed, did it come home? Did it heck...
We are not a vegemite house so refuse to buy that product.... I would love to be a fly on the wall in a supermarket when Marmite finally reappears. ;-).

Lesley, Please forward me a copy of your family photo :-D... I have been shopping out of town this afternoon, I spotted some fleecy onsies in a shop., adult size. Heavens to murgatroyd, surely no-one has purchased any :-S.
I had my list of christmas presents I needed to buy, plus the four birthdays this month... The trip was partially successful.

I hope Petunia and CC are on the mend?. We can't be having troops down now can we??

I have a nice piece of beef roasting in the oven, I cheated and bought frozen yorkshire puds ;-). It is a wet afternoon so a nice roast dinner will be just the ticket.
Just love a roast dinner, taties, pumpkin and kumara (sweet potato to you), plus cauli, broccoli and carrots. I can hardly wait.

Toodle pip,

Susan

Gooooooood Mooooooorning Ladies.

Tis I, bound and masked to avoid germs and all kinds of nastiness that is floating around in the air!!!! Why people think it is alright to cough and sneeze without the protection of a lace edged hankerchief I do not know!! Tutty tut.

The Christmas lights are up in Town. Multicoloured ones. They are there all years around, though obviously not lit in the Summer. Jolly Santas, Snowmen, Stars and Crackers. Very pretty for the children.

The ajoining Town has decided to be more select, and they have blue lights strung in the branches of the trees. Very tasteful, but very boring. However, they come on about 4pm, so they light out way back home.

Tis very cold. One cannot afford to heat the whole house, so we are now living in the Parlour, Dining Room, the Two bedroom, and of course Pat-trish-aaaah has her little flat.

I think the warmest place is the kitchen, perhaps we should all decamp down there.

Off the church soon dears. I think we will be having the service in the Vestry, there are so few of us, and it has blow heaters in there.

I too have supervised the shopping of the Christmas Meat. We have a piece of Aberdeen Angus, a boneless leg of Pork, and two choooks. We do not like Turkey so we digress from the norm.

Did I hear the words frozen Yorkshires? Oh dear no dear Susan. One must always make from scratch. I can supervise you if you wish. runs for cover................

The bears are circling my porridge..................must dash

Auntie Petunia

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ to Teresa, with sincerely meant Warmest Wishes !! brrrrr it is cold enough to freeze the ........................


Hello Susan, thanks for your good wishes, alas I was up in the night with such severe mid-back pain I was gasping for breath and had to wake MFH, who looked after me. First he rubbed my back, then he got the TENS machine and positioned the paddles down my back for a 20 minute session, then he rubbed Pernaton gel over the affected area. All this took about an hour so he was missing his beauty sleep. I was forced to take a Tramadol, a drug I prefer to avoid because of the side effects. :-( I managed to get back to sleep, and am pleased to report that the pain is not so severe at the moment.

I know what triggered it, he had a new cabinet to put on the dinette wall yesterday, and I was needed to hold up the cabinet while the first screw hole was drilled in. This meant raising my arms. Sigh. These things are sent to try us.

But my damaged finger knuckle seems to be coming along nicely :-)

We had two little accidents yesterday, first of all while moving some delicate glass ornaments to put in the new cabinet, one ornament fell onto its side, and the top parted company with the base. This was soon remedied with a Superglue treatment.

The other accident was when MFH was putting a picture back on the wall, and it fell off, landing on a lamp which was my 25th wedding anniversary gift from him. A shocked silence followed ... you could have heard a pin drop. Then, I said that accidents happen and we'd better just clean up the mess. It was broken so badly it couldnt be repaired, not even with superglue. I may not have the lamp any more, but I still have the memory of him giving it to me. Oh Well ..... them's the breaks ... :-S

CC

Petunia dear I am so glad to see you are back home, Motie Towers is not the same in your absence. Perhaps you should include among your many Good Works a Mission - to stand in SainsCo and other shops, handing out handkerchiefs to the shoppers so they wont openly cough and sneeze all over Moi !! ;-) ;-)

You know, it is extremely cramped, just living in the Parlour, the Dining Room, and the Two bedrooms. Pat-trish-aaaah having her little flat may have her privacy, but the light and heating she uses in those rooms are running up the power bills. Perhaps it is time for you to put your foot down with a firm hand, and insist that she sits in the Parlour and the Dining Room with you. Then, all the lights and the heating in Pat rish aaaah's rooms can be turned off - just think of the pecuniary savings that can be made.

I'm off now, to join Mrs Berry in the kitchen. She has the Aga going and it is blissfully warm 'yn y cegin'. And I have to test the cake mixture ..... !! dont worry I will wash my hands first :-D

CC

Petunia, your avatar is positively,err, delightful :-S... I am so pleased you are not sporting an 'xmas' themed garment. Poor Lesley is undecided as to which she will choose.....

CC, oh dear, things happen don't they. I had a spate awhile ago of breaking things. One ornament in particular that I really liked, no value as such, but I liked it :- I hope your pain has abated a bit??

How was the cake mixture? As children, we used to 'hover' as my mother cooked a cake. Four of us got to 'lick' one item each, be it the bowl, mixing blades, spatula or whatever mother had used. Nothing tasted as good back then as raw cake mixture. Not sure that fruit cake mixture would be very tasty :-D. Madeira cake was my favourite ;-).

I have washed two cars this afternoon, probably not as well as OH would - but tough. They are done well enough for me.......

Petunia, I wish you had nursed our oval ball fellows, they needed all the help they could get.... :-|.. Oh well, never mind... They were beaten by a better team on the day. Thank gawd the season is now over ;-).

Time to think about cooking dinner,

toodle pip
Susan

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaagggghhhhhhh guggle guggle! I am gargling with honey and lemon ladies, because I have some wonderful news. The ladies of the parish are to sing at the Albert Hall!!!!!!

The dear Vicar told us yesterday at the service that the combined choirs of the Parish are to sing for a Very Important Person. Such an honour. I am beside myself with glee. Can you see my twin?

I shall have to turn the heating on all over Motie Towers now dears, I cannot have a cold to my throat. Oh dear no, how can they hear my solo if I am croaking like the Frog Chorus?

Cherry dear, move away from the Aga dear, I need to warm up my larynx.

Washing cars dear Upsidedown Susan? Is that work for a well brought up young lady? Tutty tut. Do you not have hired help to do such a thing? Yes apparently your All Blacks team had gippy tums over the course of the week. If I had not been on an errand of mercy, I would have nursed them myself.

Well, my practice.

Silent Niiiiiiiiiight. Hoooooooly Niiiiiiight.

Toodle Pip
Auntie Petunia

Runs puffing on to the thread, cooooooeeeeeeeee Auntie,




Get the knitting needles out, the Royal baby is on the way :-D :-D :-D :-D


Teresa

Hello Susan, I am surviving thank you, and hope you are all well and enjoying a pleasant spring season?

The cake mixture was delicious but Mrs Berry got rather impatient when she turned around to find I had used my finger to scrape all the cake mix out of the bowl - there was nothing left to bake the cake with. On the plus side, Mrs Berry didnt have anything to wash up because I'd licked it all very clean.

As you are so good at washing cars, perhaps you could pop over and wash mine? Mind you - you'd need to bring your thermal unmentionables and a fur coat. It was sooo cold this morning, our porch glazing was badly condensated, and I've never seen it that bad before in the porch.

Heyho .... after 21st December, the nights will get lighter again, and warmer temperatures will return to the UK ..... assuming we are all still here on 22nd December, since the 21st is the End Of The World according to the ancient Mayan prophecies.

As the End Of The World will reach you first, Susan dear, before it reaches us, can you please let us know so the last person can turn off the lights?

CC

*nudges dear Petunia back from the Aga*

I am sitting here, because my assets are frozen to the bone, my icicles have got icicles on them. I need the warmth of the Aga more than you do, dear.

If you have any honey and lemon to spare, I could add a teaspoon of brandy to it for you, because all that practising the Scales might give you a sore throat.

But what an honour, to be sure. You havent said who the Very Important Person is, are you keeping us on tenterhooks?

Oh well - at least I dont have to pay your electricity bills so if you are turning all the heating back on, all over the house, I can relax in the Morning Room for the evening.

CC

such exciting news isnt it Teresa. I assume Catherine is approximately three to four weeks pregnant. We shall spend the next eight or so months listening to all the Talking Heads babble about whether the child will be a boy, a girl, or twins. And of course, the likely names the child will be saddled with. Let me see - Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise Victoria Margaret Rose Alexandra Sophie Carole Pippa. Or for a boy, Albert Victor Louis Philip Charles Andrew Edward. And as for the godparents - why, none other than Uncle Tom Cobley And All. I never did find out who All was, tho.

I do feel sorry for her having severe morning sickness though, it must be bad for her to go into hospital, perhaps she got dehydrated. I had very bad morning sickness with my youngest, except that I was sick all hours of the day and night, and it went on for weeks and weeks. By the time I was four months gone I couldnt take any more and went to the doctor who gave me a scrip for Debendox. On the way to the pharmacy, I suddenly felt much better, and instead I went to a cafe for an orange juice and a salad roll. because I suddenly had a craving. Normally, I never touch orange juice.

I never got the Debendox and was I glad of it, because not long after a warning went out that Debendox had caused birth defects.

I wonder what cravings Catherine will get ..... and whether Wills will be happy to dash out in the middle of the night to buy her picked onions and ice cream and custard.

CC

:-) :-) :-) I wanted lasagna from our local Italian restaurant which also sold take away frozen dishes off their menu. They were on a sebatiacal so I had to forgo such yummy grub :-(

Nice to see you are all back to tickety boo Cherry and Auntie and I do hope Octavia is feeling on the up.

Ah now Lesley, I was indeed working a late last Monday and an early on Tuesday when the rain was pouring down. Some silly driver decided to stop on the middle of the flood and I was just behind :-| :-| :-|
Fortunately I was not stranded, mind you on Thursday morning it was icy, it was like dancing on ice :-(
The other two rivers were ok along the route to work, although the road by the viaduct was a little submerged by the fields.

Goodness Cherry, I remember my Mama telling me how sick she was when I was in situ so to speak. The Doctor prescribed a drug but Ma would not take it. It was thalidomide :-(

I will tootle orff now for I am going to watch Panorama and then Aunties favourite residence, Claridges :-D

Teresa

Clickerty Clack, clickerty clack. Can you hear my knitting needles Ladies?

I am sooooo pleased that there is a Little Willie on the way. I am beside myself.............again. So that makes quads. Titters.

I am knitting in lemon, so that the new infant will be in a neutral colour. I daresay dear Catherine will be looked after by the very best of doctors.

I too know of a Mama who had terrible morning sickness in the afternoon. She rushed home from work one afternoon and managed projectile vomit all the way up the stairs. She too was prescribed Debendox, which she duly took. Only later were the warnings. Luckily she and her sprog were ok.

I cannot tell you dear Cherry who the VIP is. Because I do not know, as soon as I do.................so will you.

Teresa dear. You must have been alarmed by the rising water dear. In the West there have been abysmal torrents of water. Thank goodness you are not in that predicament. Take care dear. Remember I still have the Ark should you need it.

I was listening to the wireless this afternoon dears when the News broke, and later I heard Carwash by RoseRoyce. Funnily enough I thought of our dear Upsidedown Susan. Susan, you really must delegate more. Delegation has got me where I am now dear.

Good evening to Lesley when she surfaces to see us. No doubt she is cuddling that dear little baby of hers. Lucky gal.

Well, just a few more choruses of O For the Wings of a Dove, and then I think I will have a Bath Oliver and a glass of warm milk. I really must protect my voice. I may even whisper when I see you all next.

Who cheered?

Goodnight dears
Auntie Petunia

A Freezing Good Evening.

How sweet is that dog Susan :-) it looks just like my brothers lhasa apso apart from the tail :-S

My MOG doesn't clean our cars :-| so I pay the men in the supermarket car park to do it :-D

Auntie Petunia and CC I am pleased to hear that you are both much better and Theresa you were lucky not to get stranded :-) I hope it was a male rather than female driver that stopped in front of you :-D

Today I been ordering Christmas gifts on-line MandS have 20% off plus free delivery :-) I just couldn't resist.

Alas I haven't had any cuddles for a week :-(

hello Teresa, yes Thalidomide was around for quite a few years (with horrendous results) before the NHS and the drugs company admitted the drug was responsible for the defects.

Dont you mean Driving On Ice? Another warning has gone out that later this week wet areas especially roads are going to freeze over, when temperatures plummet again, but I dont remember which part of the country. Probably oop north. Our northern friends do seem to get the worst of it, not that we southerners get off too lightly.

I've been stuck in heavy traffic in floodwater, caused by a flash flood during a heavy thunderstorm, and it took me a long time to stop shaking.

I am currently listening to Robert & Elizabeth, the 1960s stage musical telling the story of Robert Browning and Elizabeth. I saw the show in 1966, and not long after I bought the vinyl album, which I still have. June Bronhill was always a pleasure to listen to.

CC

Hello Petunia dear, I should have known it was you when I heard the click clack of knitting needles. So you are knitting for Little Willie? That outfit looks so small, do you think it will keep Willie warm?

I watched the documentary about Claridges last night, and what a lovely set up it is too. I felt quaite at home, for of course everything I do and say, and wear, is in the best possible taste.

Speaking of good taste - no doubt we shall all be attending the christening of Little Wills (or Little Elizabeth Catherine), which means I must create another ensemble to wear. Unfortunately, I have run out of black bin bags. However, the neighbouring council issue green sacks so I shall purloin some of those to work with. It will be fine, once I've emptied out the gardening refuse. As usual, I shall be saving toilet rolls and string and double sided sticky tape to make a suitable hat with a fascinator, and after I have worn it I shall auction it on E Bay. My dear lady Mama always says that royalty sets the fashion.

Yes your vocal exercises are coming along well. *inserts ear plugs* Perhaps you should try singing Over The Hills And Far Away.

CC

hello Lesley, My GOG does clean the cars, when he feels like it, which is when the weather isnt too cold or wet. I once tried a young man in a car park, but was not satisfied with the job he did, so Never Again. Every so often, a nearby ambulance station offers car washing to boost their funds. I am tempted but am never in the frame of mind to wait in long queues.

Yes my back is easier thanks, this morning I went back to bed with a hot water bottle to lie back on, and did some movements to try and crack my spine and free the vertebrae. Not sure if I was successful - I mean, there was some cracking, and the pain has eased a little, but I still need to be very careful how I move. I'm surprised you havent heard me eeeching and ouching, because Mrs Berry heard me and thought the cat was having kittens, a remarkable event because dear Petunia doesnt keep a cat, only Tricki Woo.

I've been a good little hausfrau today and vacuumed the upstairs, and also the downstairs thru to the kitchen which will be left to another day. When I was younger, I could vacuum from the stairs all the way through the downstairs including giving the kitchen a jolly good clean, leaving the other days of the week free for me to do other things. Now, that one days' work has to be spread over three days, interfering with the things I used to do on the other days of the week. I told the cleaning lady not to come in today, because I am very cross with her.

CC

Lesleeeeeeeey, can you get the CDC blokes out to grit your portion of the road. 'twas very icy again this morning on the way to paid toil. My dear FTY was very observant and saw the grit blokes were filling up the yellow grit bin at the end of our road. OH nipped down with the wheelbarrow and filled it up ready for the freezing weather which is on its way. There is enough for the neighbours as well. He will grit the road as much as possible so we are not all driving on the ice like a formation dance team :-D

FTE is in warmer climes, in Greece my dears and warm as toast :-| I instucted her to bring some nice warm weather back when she returns in April :-D :-D :-D

Now Cherry dear, I am glad you are a little more comfortable. Pay housework it's never ending but a lot less since FTE moved to the seven seas, I'm on a day orfff tomorrow so will have to get the feather duster out and give the house a bit of a do.
Now we have hear clear recycling sacks which you can fashion into a suitable Christening outfit. Being clear you can decorate them as you like :-D :-D :-D

Auntie, keep knitting, little Willie may get very cold in the Highlands during summer and winter holidays. Maybe you could knock up a few onsies for your staff as well. It will save a fortune on the winter fuel bills. What is Pat rish aaaa up to at the moment?

Lesley how is dear little E, I bet you can't wait till Christmas :-D we put the tree up today at work and the lights :-D :-D :-D it looks very tasteful and not tacky at all. :-D

Hallllllloooooooo Susan, have I missed you???

Tootle pip for now


Teresa

oh Lucky lucky FTE ..... yes Teresa you MUST insist she brings some warm weather with her when she returns to Blighty. But am not sure if I can wait until April.

How the cat can go out in the cold, I just dont comprehend. The central heating is on, and I still feel like I am sitting in the freezer. At least MFH and myself have received our respective cold weather payments. Mingy Cameron, reducing it to £100 each. And more government spending cuts are to be announced which will of course affect the inhabitants of these islands wot pays their NI and Taxes. :-| Whilst I appreciate that other countries have their problems, surely it is time for the government to sort out UK problems first, and pay a decent living pension to retired people, and invest more in the NHS and other social care services, before financial aid packages are sent overseas. There are people in the British Isles dying of the cold every year because they cannot afford to heat their homes, or going short of food, or being denied medical treatment because the NHS doesnt have the funding, etc et al.

But I suppose that as it has always been, so shall it always be.

Oh well - my freezing bones and I are off now to find some dinner :-)

CC